Pin and socket terminals are well known in the electrical field and have been used to provide electrical connections for numerous types of electrical equipment, appliances, computers, systems, etc. Electrical terminals of the prior art contain various teachings of lance configurations for retaining terminals within insulating members. The primary considerations in the design of retaining lances has been that the lances have sufficient strength to withstand normal pull out requirements and that they be sufficiently protected to minimize the possibility of being over-stressed during handling of the terminal prior to insertion within a housing. However, with the trend toward miniaturization, another consideration has arisen. The lances must cooperate with the sockets, or some part of the housing surrounding the sockets, in such a way as to prevent the rotation of the pins as they are inserted into the sockets.
Minimizing the rotation of each of the pins during insertion into respective sockets is of importance for many applications, however, minimal rotation of the pin becomes increasingly important when very fine wire is attached to the pin terminals. If the insertion of the pins is not controlled, the rotation of the pins will cause the fine, fragile wire to be damaged. This results in the destruction of the electrical connection between the pin and the wire, resulting in the failure of the system.